G20 Summit: India Champions Sustainable Growth, Skills, and New Global Agendas

Johannesburg witnessed Prime Minister Narendra Modi articulate a powerful vision for global development at the G20 Leaders’ Summit. Addressing the opening session themed ‘Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Growth Leaving No One Behind,’ Modi urged a profound re-examination of existing development metrics. He remarked that with Africa hosting the G20 for the first time, it’s an opportune moment to recalibrate our focus towards growth that is truly inclusive and sustainable, aligning with India’s civilizational principle of Integral Humanism. A key proposal from India was the establishment of a ‘G20 Global Traditional Knowledge Repository.’ This initiative aims to safeguard and share ancient wisdom pertaining to eco-friendly and socially cohesive living practices. Leveraging India’s own rich heritage of traditional knowledge systems, the repository will serve as a vital resource for documenting and propagating sustainable living models, ensuring their transmission to future generations and contributing to global health and well-being. Shifting focus to human capital development, Prime Minister Modi introduced the ‘G20–Africa Skills Multiplier Initiative.’ He pointed out that past global growth models have often marginalized communities and harmed the environment, with Africa bearing a significant brunt of these challenges. This initiative proposes a collaborative effort to certify one million trainers in Africa over the next ten years, adopting a train-the-trainers methodology across diverse sectors, with financial and logistical support from G20 nations. This aims to foster Africa’s progress, which Modi asserted is integral to global progress. Addressing a critical global security threat, India put forward a proposal for a ‘G20 Initiative on Countering the Drug–Terror Nexus.’ Modi underscored the escalating danger posed by synthetic drugs like fentanyl, which not only devastate public health and social structures but also fuel global instability and terrorism. He called for united action to disrupt the intertwined drug-terror economy. Additionally, India proposed the formation of a ‘G20 Global Healthcare Response Team’ to enhance preparedness and response capabilities for health crises and natural disasters through rapid deployment of expert medical teams.